I Had to Do It
by Christy W
Summary: How important is one person to the way things turn out in the long run? Sam finds out the hard way.


Title: I Had to Do It  
Author: Christy  
Rating: FR 18  
Fandom/Theme: Buffy/Quantum Leap  
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters featured here. They belong to their respective creators and production companies.  
Distribution: and TtH  
Summary: How important is one person to the way things turn out in the long run? Sam finds out the hard way.

Sam groaned as he woke up. He hadn't heard from Al yet, but he already knew two things about the body he'd leapt into- she was a chick and she was black. He felt nausea well up in his throat and got to the bathroom in time. _Yup, and pregnant,_ he thought clinically.

"Mom, are you okay?" a little boy asked, padding into the room in footie pajamas.

"Oh yeah, baby. Momma's gonna be fine. Just give me a second," Sam told him as Al appeared in the bathroom next to him.

"Sam, you're not going to believe this- hell, even me and Ziggy thought the probability of this being true to be almost nil," Al babbled, clad in one of his usually bright suits.

Sam was half listening to Al as he rummaged around his room, looking for some clothes to change into. He found a leather coat flung over a chair and decided to try the trunk at the end of the bed. He jumped back in surprise instead as Al headed over and peered into the chest full of weaponry.

"Well, this definitely confirms that chick's story- she's the Vampire Slayer, all right."

"A vampire what!?" Sam hissed as he slammed the trunk closed, finally found some jeans and yanked them on. "What kind of bullshit are you talking about now, Al? There's no such thing as vampires."

"That's what we thought too, but moments after you jumped, we had a tremor that reached all the way up to us at point zero. Whatever you need to do, it affects EVERYTHING from this point in time onward," Al informed him, while Sam ran his hands through his hair.

"Gee, no pressure here, Al. So does Ziggy have any idea what's supposed to happen?"

Al looked down at his pad for a moment. "Well, Nicole here apparently went on to be one of the longest living Slayers. She and her little son there started to spearhead reforms at the Council. That would be the guys responsible for training and recording what happens to all the Slayers over the years. But they were murdered and some said the Watchers were behind it while others said that the other Potentials or some of the vampires didn't like her bringing the scaries out from under the bed into broad daylight. They became martyrs and the next Slayer, a Buffy Summers, trained in LA and at 15, she tried to take on the establishment and was killed in a fight with Council forces. The next Slayer, Kendra, on the other hand, was a dutiful servant of the Council and took it upon herself to prove herself worthy by getting rid of some serious players for the bad guys. She managed to dust an evil vampire by the name of Angelus but was unable to keep the Master from rising from his underground prison in Sunnydale, California."

"Wow, so you're saying there's only one Slayer at a time and I'm it right now? But if it's about saving her and her kid, why did I jump into her now? The kid can't be more than six, for god's sake!" Sam cried.

"I'm not sure yet," Al said with a shrug. "Just try and learn how to get rid of vampires. Oh and a couple other things- Slayers have more strength than the average chick, and the boy's name is Robin."

*****

Sam managed to get Robin off to school and get through most of the day without any real serious mishaps. Now he was sitting at the kitchen table, reading through a book on demons he'd found in the trunk when Al popped back in. Sam looked up eagerly, hoping Al knew what he had to do, but his smile faded at the serious look on Al's face. "What is it? What do I have to do- kill somebody?" Sam demanded as Al sighed.

"Something like that," he replied morosely. "We were doing more research and it looks like the lynchpin moment is a fight she's supposed to be in tonight. In the original diaries, it says Nikki succeeded in defeating and killing a vampire named William the Bloody."

"So what am I supposed to do- let him live?" Sam asked. "That shouldn't be hard."

"Uh, not exactly," Al said with a wince. "Ziggy and I went over the numbers, just to be sure, but there's no easy way to say this; Sam, you're supposed to let her die tonight."

Sam sat back down, stunned. "She has to die? What'll happen to Robin? What about the Slayer that was supposed to come after her? She's probably not even born yet!"

"We're 96% certain that's what's supposed to happen. There seems to be evidence that Robin's named guardian is Nikki's Watcher," Al explained.

Sam sighed and looked around the small room, tears pricking his eyes. "Well, I guess I should go get ready to do this patrol thing."

*****

Sam groaned and held his head. It was situated properly, not askew as Nikki's had been when Spike had grabbed her head and twisted. He shuddered in horror at the memory of that sound as he looked around. It resembled his lab, but he felt like something was off about it, just the same.

"You have done well, young traveler," a feminine voice said from behind him.

Sam spun around to see a man and a woman in Grecian togas walking toward him. "W-Who are you and where am I?" he demanded.

"We are the Oracles and part of the reason why you have been traveling to fix what has gone wrong in your timeline," the male replied.

"What do you mean, fixing my timeline?" he asked.

"Simply put," the female stated "there were forces at work being fueled by the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart that were trying to destroy and undermine all the good people in your timeline have done. You were chosen to help correct it and now that the final error has been corrected, you-"

"An error? Nikki Wood living would have been an **_error_**!? What kind of people are you that that life meant so little to you?" Sam insisted.

"We are the kind that understand that the sacrifice of one may save the lives of many more," the male retorted angrily. "Nikki Wood was allowed to live so the Slayer that followed her would not. The Champions of Light would have been lost far sooner than they should if that Slayer had been allowed to live. You may ask the Champions themselves when you see them."

"Wait- you mean I get to go home?" Sam asked, a grin spreading over his face. His only answer was for his vision to go blank only to come to in a hospital bed with Al and someone he could only assume was Gooshy on the other side.


End file.
